13 AUGUST 2026
The New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa has opened submissions for the 2027 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. These prestigious awards promote excellence in, and provide recognition of, the best books for adult readers published annually in Aotearoa.
Titles with release dates between 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2026 will be considered for the 2027 awards in four categories: fiction, poetry, general non-fiction, and illustrated non-fiction.
Publishers are asked to observe the guidelines for sending entries in two tranches, which are in place for ease of sending to judges. Submissions for titles published between 1 January 2026 and 31 August 2026 are now open and will close at 5pm on Wednesday 2 September 2026.
Entries for titles published between 1 September 2026 and 31 December 2026 will open on Thursday 3 September and close at 5pm on Thursday 15 October 2026.
Following sector consultation and international research, the New Zealand Book Awards Trust draws the attention of submitters to an updated clause included in the Call for Entries pack restricting the use of AI, and urges careful review of all criteria and conditions in the full document found on the website before entering online.
The twelve judges for the 2027 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards will be revealed next month, and their longlists for the four awards categories will be announced on 28 January 2027. The 2027 shortlist will be revealed on 3 March and the awards ceremony will be held in Tāmaki Makaurau on Wednesday 12 May, as a public event at the Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki. There is a total of $125,000 in prize money available for the winners.
All entries must be submitted online at www.nzbookawards.nz and fees paid by credit card via the online submission form. Entry fees have increased for the first time in eight years, to $185 plus GST per title.
For any further enquiries, please email the Ockhams Awards Administrator at awards@nzbookawards.org.nz.
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, Jann Medlicott and the Acorn Foundation, Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM, BookHub presented by Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand, the Mātātuhi Foundation, and the Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki, which assists in administering the awards and hosts the ceremony within its annual programme.
